Ismara in the Mountains

Ismara Academy for Noblewomen

High in the mountains there is a thousand room castle. In the lofty towers, there are instructors and patrons dedicated to artistic pursuits - poetry, painting, dance, and drama are all practiced in the rooms, accompanied by good music and witty banter.

In the lower rooms and dungeons, science reigns supreme. From the study of mathematical principles to cataloging the bodily humors, master and novice alike tinker and experiment.

Girls - all highborn, brightest of the bunch and beautiful, spend their formative years in the halls of the castle, learning to dance the cotillion and studying effective ways to murder their first husband without getting caught.

Airships travel from the castle to the nearby free town of Amirtha, and from there to the rest of the world. Ismara is located on “no-man’s land” and owes no fealty to any one country or governing system. As such, people from around the world send their daughters to Ismara, to learn lessons both practical and theoretical, to gain perspective, and to make friendships and alliances that will carry on through the years.

On the surface, everything seems pristine and proper. Girls arrive at 14 and leave no earlier than 18, although most stay until they are 20. They leave polished and graceful, adept at handling problems both small and large, but when asked about their years at Ismara, high in the mountains, most will only receive a smile.

There’s definitely more than meets the eye.

Four talented girls, at the top of their classes and considered the best and brightest of the school, are about to discover some of the secrets the academy holds, find entry into the most select of societies, go on adventures, and discover why the school is held in such high regard.

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Setting: Steampunk and boarding school/finishing school

Tone: Light and fun, character driven, potentially NSFW

Number of players: Four preferred.

Player roles: School girls, all around 18, coming from different backgrounds, excelling in various areas.

Power scale: They are still (mostly) untried human girls with no supernatural powers, but do have access to resources, talented minds, other machines the school created, and whatever family resources they have.

This is a steampunk-based world, with corresponding steam-powered technology. (Gadgets are limited only by the imagination. )

The majority will be from a higher class/the nobility, but don’t let that restrict you.

First Scene will be: Returning to Ismara after the summer holidays and meeting old friends. This will be to establish bonds, get familiar with the players. The goal of this will mostly be to work out friendships/rivalries between the girls.

Second scene will be the Initiation, where the characters will discover more about what is going on. From there, we will alternate between adventure scenes, class scenes, and scenes around the castle and grounds.